Bridget is a film student who looks deeper at television and film, providing reviews, insights, and more.

Political Correctness and Movies

About this blog

By Bridget LaMonica

Bridget is a Media Communication and Technology grad from East Stroudsburg University. She finished her education with a program in Film and Television at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Bridget loves television and movies, and is
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Bridget is a Media Communication and Technology grad from East Stroudsburg University. She finished her education with a program in Film and Television at the Savannah College of Art & Design. Bridget loves television and movies, and is always annoying her friends when watching TV because she frequently asks “How did they do that?” or making predictions on whether a TV show will live past its first season. In order to avoid this habit, she now keeps this blog.

Sometimes I'm just astounded by how fragile people are. Political correctness is alive and well, and rears its ugly head in the media and about the media. Today I'm picking on critics of Man of Steel who felt the tornado scene was inappropriate after the real life event in Oklahoma. (See source article on Yahoo here).

First of all, what?

Some folks felt it was smarter to delete a scene, a scene which shows a pivotal moment in Clark Kent's life when his father heroically loses his life...a scene that really wasn't all that long. It was a scene set in Kansas, not Oklahoma.

Anyone who complained about this scene obviously doesn't understand how the film industry works. For one, this was not a scene tacked on to a movie because of real life events, it was simply a coincedence. Given the immense amount of time it takes to make movies, especially those special effects heavy blockbusters like Man of Steel, this scene was written, filmed, and edited long before the tragedy in Oklahoma.

Not to be callous, but guys, it's just a movie.

There have been a number of times in which certain scenes in movies unjustly recieved a bad rap. Another tragedy, the movie theatre shooting during the premiere of The Dark Knight Rises is one. The movie Gangster Squad was then delayed because it had a scene featuring a movie theater shooting. That was probably a smart move.

After 9/11, it was rumored (or perhaps someone was serious about this) that all images of the Twin Towers would be retroactively taken out of existing movies. Luckily that never occured, but it brings to light issues of how ridiculous people can get.

Films imitate life, but they are not real life. If Iron Man 3 (and, the previous Iron Man's) show terrorism, it's not a bad thing. It's a reflection of modern life.

But don't get me wrong: a certain amount of tastefullness and decorum does belong in the movie theater and on television. I insist that tough subjects need to be covered, liike terrorism, natural disasters, politcal snafus, murder, etc....because that's all in real life.

Otherwise we'd all be watching some version of 1950s TV all the time, where everything is just so gosh darn wonderful and the only antagonist is the slightly grumpy neighbor next door.